1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a suction cleaner (vacuum cleaner), having a suction hose which connects to the suction unit and has an inlet at which dirt-laden air may be inducted, e.g. by the connection of the inlet to a wand and/or a cleaning tool.
2. Background to the Invention
The invention has been devised in relation to a suction cleaner of the so-called “cylinder” type. This type of cleaner comprises a suction unit having a source of suction (a motor and impeller) and a separator/collector arrangement, for separating entrained dirt from the flow of air created by the source of the suction and for collecting and retaining such separated dirt for appropriate disposal. The separator/collector may include one or more filters for removing entrained dirt from the airflow and/or one or more “cyclonic” separators in which the separation is effected by centrifugal force. In use the suction unit is positioned in the vicinity of where a cleaning operation is being carried out, and a flexible suction hose connects the suction unit to a cleaning tool being wielded by a person carrying out the cleaning. For floor cleaning and for cleaning some other surfaces, the cleaning tool usually is connected at the end of an elongate rigid wand, possibly telescopically extendible and contractible, whose other end is connected to the suction hose.
Usually the suction hose is detachable from the suction unit, and when the cleaner is not in use the suction hose may be stored wherever is convenient. It is known that a suction unit can be provided with external formations on which the suction hose can be arranged, e.g. coiled, for storage. Possibly the hose may even remain connected to the suction unit when thus stored. However, such storage of a hose is generally inconvenient. A hose of reasonable length is bulky and vulnerable to damage when stored. It has also been proposed that the suction unit of a suction cleaner may be provided with internal storage, e.g. in the form of a drum on which the hose can be coiled and stored within the unit, to be deployed therefrom when required. However such arrangements as proposed hitherto have been bulky, and thus inconvenient, and have had other disadvantages including the necessity of providing complex mechanisms for controlling the operation of the drum and the coiling of the hose thereon.
Certain cleaning operations make it desirable that a suction cleaner should be provided with a relatively long hose, e.g. four metres or possibly even longer. This facilitates the cleaning of a stairway, with the suction unit being positioned at the top or bottom of the stairway. However a hose of this length is even more difficult to accommodate either inside or outside the suction unit.
Apart from the cylinder type of suction cleaner, the other main type of cleaner is the “upright” type, in which a cleaning head is provided as part of a generally upstanding suction unit, the whole cleaner being manoeuvrable over a floor surface by an operator grasping a handle on the suction unit. It is known that such a cleaner may have a suction hose either provided on the suction unit and able to be deployed for use with other cleaning tools, or possibly as a separate component to be attached to the suction unit for use with cleaning tools other than the floor cleaning head. Although primarily intended for use with a cleaner of the cylinder type, the present invention may also be applicable for use with an upright type of cleaner having a suction hose.